Judah Smith has spent more than two decades pastoring people through the hardest parts of being human — pain, doubt, anxiety, and the long road to forgiveness. When Judah Smith sat down with Sean Kelly on the Digital Social Hour, the result was one of the show's most vulnerable conversations, on both sides of the table.
The episode covers anxiety, panic attacks, and agoraphobia; the lawsuit that nearly cost Sean everything; lessons from 25-plus years of marriage; boundaries with toxic people; and why Judah is uneasy with the label 'Christian' — a perspective he explains on his own terms.
About Judah Smith
Judah Smith is the lead pastor of Churchome, the Seattle-area church he leads alongside his wife, Chelsea, known for pairing in-person community with a widely used app that brings church to people wherever they are. He stepped into leadership after years of serving in the congregation his parents built, and has since become one of the most recognizable pastors in America.
He is also the author of the New York Times bestseller Jesus Is, and his ministry has long reached beyond Sunday services to well-known artists and athletes who count him as a pastor and friend. What stands out here is not the platform but the practicality: faith, as Judah Smith describes it, comes down to forgiveness, love, and how you treat people.
What Judah Smith and Sean Kelly Talked About
- Why Judah Smith hesitates at being called a Christian, and the perspective behind it
- How anxiety, panic attacks, and agoraphobia can quietly take over a life
- Sean Kelly's candid account of the lawsuit that nearly cost him everything
- The connection between forgiveness — including self-forgiveness — and real freedom
- Why boundaries are essential, even when it means distance from toxic people
- Lessons on love and partnership from more than 25 years of marriage
- Why love, as Judah sees it, is more practical than people realize
- Staying positive under public criticism when not everyone is rooting for you
Why This Conversation Matters
Conversations about faith can drift into abstraction fast; this one never does. Judah Smith talks about anxiety, lawsuits, criticism, and forgiveness the way a trusted friend would — concretely, and from experience. For anyone carrying resentment they cannot put down, or a label that no longer fits, this episode offers a generous place to start.
▶ Watch the full episode on YouTube
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About Sean Kelly & the Digital Social Hour
Sean Kelly is an entrepreneur and the host of the Digital Social Hour, one of the fastest-growing interview podcasts in the world, where he sits down with entrepreneurs, athletes, creators, and cultural voices for candid, long-form conversations. The show draws over 100 million views a month across platforms. Explore more guest features on SeanKelly.io.
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